January+16,+1920

** Today America Becomes Dry ** "The rein of tears is over, the slums will soon be only a memory. We will turn our prisons into factories and our jails into storehouses and corncribs."(Billy Sunday ) Today on January 16, 1920, our country went dry, something that many have wanted for some time. Many believe that banning alcohol will stop almost all crime and some places have even sold their jails because they do not think that they will need them anymore. The [|18th Amendment]was passed one year ago stating that "After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited." With intoxicating liquors being "any such beverages which contain one-half of 1 per centum or more of alcohol by volume” according to the [|Volstead Act]. The job of enforcing prohibition has gone to the Internal Revenue Service and it will cost around $5 million. Temperance groups had their own suggestions on how to enforce the law. Their suggestions were things like poisoning alcohol, torturing, and being forbidden to marry.  Prohibition movements and temperance groups have been around for some time. The Women’s Christian Temperance groups started in 1873 and the Anti-Saloon League started in 1900. Women wanted prohibition because they wanted to stop women and children abuse that was caused by alcohol. The World War also helped this country become dry. Partial prohibition was enforced during the war so that the grain used in drinks could be used for the war. Also because some Germans owned breweries many people thought prohibition was patriotic. When asked if there will ever be a chance of reform Congress replied with "There is as much chance of repealing the Eighteenth Amendment as there is for a hummingbird to fly to the planet Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail.” It seems that only good things can come out of this new amendment, but jest how much is not yet known.